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“Thank you, Alex,” she murmured into his chest, shaking.
The heat from their warm skin touching seared through him, immediately causing a physical response. He wrapped his arms around her and almost kissed the top of her head, but caught himself.
Don’t be an ass. It’s not her fault you’ve lived like a damn monk for years. Besides, she’s the very definition of vulnerable right now.
He took a deep breath, heart racing, as he stepped back and cupped her face in his hands. “Hey, everything’s ok. You did great down there.” The fear and vulnerability in her eyes kindled something inside him he didn’t think was still there. He’d been dead inside for so long now.
Needing to put some distance between them, Alex led her back to her tank and sat her down before sitting next to her. “Listen to me. I have seen very experienced divers lose it much worse than you did today. You overcame that incredibly quickly.”
She shook her head, eyes pinned to the deck. “Now that I’m safe, it almost feels like some awful nightmare. But I really did feel like I was drowning.” She turned to him with haunted eyes. “Thank you.”
Swallowing hard, Alex touched her hand, then withdrew. “Don’t thank me—that was all you.” He reached out and stroked her foot with his, which felt safer. “Then you faced your fear and went down again. I’m so proud of you. You did an amazing job. And the last part of the dive was pretty special, wasn’t it?”
A smile spread across her face, her golden eyes still wet. “That turtle was magical.”
He nodded. “Encounters like that are the best thing about diving. That turtle didn’t care about me at all—he only had eyes for you.”
“The thing is . . .” Hope buried her face in her hands. “No. You’ll think I’m even stupider than you do now.”
Alex’s stomach twisted again. Heart still pounding, he nudged her foot once more. “The last thing I think you are is stupid. What?”
She wiped her face dry and turned her gaze to him. “I’m pretty sure that was the same turtle that started the whole thing. I noticed it in a crevice and wanted to show you. That’s when I collided with your fins. I think that when that turtle saw me again, coming right up to me and touching my mask, it was letting me know everything was going to be all right. It was reassuring me I was ok.” She shook her head. “That’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
Alex looked back at her, saying words he hadn’t in a long time. “Ever since I was a kid, I would turn to the ocean to help me deal with anything that upset me. A few years ago, I was going through . . . a tough time. To get away from everything, I went free diving. There’s a serenity I get from that I haven’t found in anything else.” He watched the horizon, but couldn’t stop his gaze from turning back to hers.
“This dolphin came up to me. Dolphins are very curious and often swim by, but they rarely hang around. Hope, that dolphin stayed with me for over thirty minutes. When I surfaced to breathe, so did he. We swam alongside each other over and over again. I’ve never had another experience like it, before or since. I believe that dolphin came to—I don’t know—encourage me that day. To give me solace.”
He paused for a moment. “No, I don’t think you’re being ridiculous at all. I know exactly what you felt down there.”
* * *
The hot steam swirled around Hope as she wiped her mirror after showering. She was still trying to come to grips with what had happened that afternoon. If she’d been diving with anyone other than Alex, she might be dead right now. He had been calm and confident the entire time, completely in charge. Her recollection of the event was fuzzy at best—really just sensations of utter terror and choking.
The one clear memory she had after replacing her mask was of Alex’s eyes, anchoring and steadying her.
She groaned, glaring at her reflection as an embarrassed flush rose over her face. “And you literally threw yourself at him. Hope, you are a colossal idiot. He probably deals with stuff like that all the time. It didn’t even affect him.”
Feeling better after berating herself, she got dressed. She’d been in bad situations before, but never like this, and made a determined attempt to find a positive in the situation. Smiling at the memory of the turtle, she was proud of herself for continuing the dive.
He’s right—it was an accident.
Hope was at war with herself, in constant flux with conflicting emotions. Embarrassment that after trying for months to remain aloof from Alex, she had collapsed into his arms. Utter gratitude that he’d been there for her that afternoon. Relief that her trust in him had been fulfilled to the highest degree possible. And something much deeper—she’d given him the perfect opportunity to act when her defenses had been laid bare, and he hadn’t. What that said about his character.
And how incredibly safe she’d felt in his arms.
Given her state of mind, Hope didn’t feel like going to the restaurant to eat. Making a sandwich, she sat down in her great room and turned on the television. She took one bite before putting it down, feeling nauseated.
The resort had satellite TV, but she gave up watching after flipping through several channels, slamming the remote down on the coffee table. She was as restless as a caged wolf but didn’t know what to do with herself. Hope paced around her living room for a while, taking deep breaths to calm herself, then threw a pillow against the wall as she tried not to scream.
A walk along the beach would help, so she headed out into the night air. There was a cool breeze blowing off the ocean, and a three-quarters moon supplied plenty of light.
It even smells different at night.
Cleaner, crisper—as if the sun’s disappearance allowed the breeze to clear out all traces of the day. Holding out her arms, Hope closed her eyes and let the soft wind whisper over her.
That’s what I need. To let the breeze wash away the bad parts of today and leave the good ones.
Because there had been good parts—the seahorses, her friendly turtle, and throughout all of it, Alex.
